In the Biz Party has fallen a long way

 At the end of every season shortly after Mother’s Day, bartenders, waitresses, strippers, bouncers, club & restaurant owners and all kinds of partiers drove to Islamorada and stayed for 4 days & nights of endless partying. Ecstasy, coke, pot & lots of booze were the order of the day along with nudity, topless girls sunbathing, and a boat party at the sand reef that drew every Coast Guard in Florida. Cops walked around but let everything go on, this was hospitality folks unwinding after the season, so it was an anything goes as long as no one made unwanted advances. Anyone fighting was taken to jail. This started in the early 80’s with about 50 people and grew to over 3,000 by the mid 1990’s, when Islamorada decided they’d had enough and refused to host the party. The 2017 version will take place on Monday, July 11th at the Bamboo Beach Club, located in the Ocean Manor Hotel in Ft. Lauderdale. What used to be free is now $25 a person. Most will arrive Sunday when the party starts at 8pm with a Bartender Flair contest. The party is over Monday night. In the old days every beer & liquor company in America was there handing out free samples to promote their brand. Some of that still goes on in a smaller way. It is now a much more politically correct party with no open drug use allowed and virtually no nudity. Most bartenders will tell you the party sucks. Comments like “It’s too short, one day ain’t enough” are among the complaints. Hey Jeff Greene, want to fill up your hotel every July for a week with bartenders & waitresses?